


Sleepyhead

by tsubasafan



Series: And Until the End [13]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Cute, Family, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-04-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 18:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsubasafan/pseuds/tsubasafan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurogane and his son take after each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleepyhead

**Author's Note:**

> Possible spoilers for From the Beginning.

Kurogane had just finished training with Toshihiko. It was supposed to be a calm session, but instead it ended up being more intense than he had expected. Therefore his pants were stained with dirt and grass up to his knees. But alas, Toshihiko was much shorter and so he was covered with stains everywhere. He had been teaching his son hand-to-hand combat and while the boy couldn't train like others older than him, he could still learn basic maneuvers.

Toshihiko looked at the grass stains on his clothes and the patches of dirt on his skin and smiled. He had done a good job today and had worked hard. But then he was suddenly struck by the idea of his other father seeing him. Fai worked even harder than he did and sometimes would come home covered in mud and grim, but he always expected his son to clean up after training before coming inside the main house.

"Otou-san's going to be mad if we're not clean."

"Good point," Kurogane said. Although all he really needed to do was change his clothes, he may as well take a bath. "Should head over there then."

Toshihiko ran ahead, having already been up. He always liked baths, especially with his grandfather, who always splashed water everywhere and made his grandmother get that weird smile on her face.

"Oi, leaving your father behind as usual," the lord muttered. Still, he easily caught up with the boy who was eagerly waiting outside of the bathhouse. Toshihiko was flushing after all the running on top of his training session.

"Boy, your father's right. You are hyper."

"Otou-san and Ojii-san said I got it from you," he replied with a smile before he heaved the door open to the bath. It seemed some of the servants had already started the fire underneath the bathhouse when they had started training as a wave of warm air hit the boy's face.

"They still think I'm hyper?" Kurogane remarked bitterly, while following his son inside. Two sets of pails filled with water along with slabs of soap were also prepared for them. Shutting the door behind him, the two started removing their clothes.

"Ojii-san said you were a monkey when you were a kid and then Otou-san said I definitely was one," Toshihiko said in complaint as from what he remembered. Fai had worried him and the boy had thought all that morning that he had actually looked like a monkey when he was younger. It took Toshihiko longer to get clean and he even needed help with his hair to get all the dirt out, but eventually Toshihiko climbed up and into the large bathtub.

"I was," Kurogane finally said, not even realizing he was actually agreeing with the two people who could easily rile him up. But he wasn't going to bring up that he fell down from trees quite a lot often when he was a boy. He then went into the bathtub. "But your father was one, too."

Toshihiko laughed at his father for admitting he had been a hyperactive child as well. "Otou-san told me that if you said he was like that, then I should say 'Kuro-papa was the one always tripping over his feet'." The boy began rambling, though the mixture of warm water, training, and being in the company of his father was soothing and causing him to get sleepy.

"He said what?"

Well, if Fai told embarrassing things about him all the time, it should be his turn, Kurogane thought with a smirk. "Tell him this then. I never tripped over mud, but he did."

"Really? Otou-san never falls." Toshihiko looked at his father skeptically, not sure if he should believe him or not.

"You just never witnessed it," Kurogane explained. "Happened before you were born." Was it just him, or was he getting drowsy in the bath again?

With his back against the wooden edge, Toshihiko frowned at his father, still not sure if he should believe him or not. "I'll ask Outo-san when he's done at the shrine then."

How on earth had it ended up that Fai was more trustworthy and not him? "I bet he'll flat out refuse he tripped over mud, boy, but that's how he is."

"He said he fell off his horse that one time though," he argued and tried not to think about how Fai had smiled and cooed over the memory.

Kurogane instinctively ran his fingers over his damp hair. Judging by the fact that his son didn't pull off an expression of being grossed out, he supposed Fai didn't elaborate that he fell off and knocked over Kurogane, therefore accidentally landing on top of him. "Wait, I meant he refuses anything I call him off for."

"Like you do when Ojii-san does it?" Toshihiko asked curiously. He rested against the edge of the bathtub and his eyes were hooded with weariness.

"Hmmph" was Kurogane's only response. He noticed how droopy his son was getting. "Oi, now don't fall asleep."

"I'm not," the boy murmured. He then straightened up to give a halfhearted glare at his father.

"Don't deny it," Kurogane had to remind himself not to nod off again as well. "We shouldn't stay in here too long, so we'll dry and change soon, kay?"

"Okay." The water really was relaxing and he could even hear birds chirping outside.

It had been a really long day for Kurogane. Early in the morning he had set out of the palace to the city to have a meeting with some of the village chiefs, where they all had discussed about crops and how they were doing. Then he came back and had another private meeting with his men, promptly followed by a quiet meal with Fai and Toshihiko before the boy demanded for his training session. It was no wonder that, before he knew it, he was completely knocked out.

So much for him fighting to not fall asleep in the relaxing bathtub…

With his cheek pressed against the wooden edge of the bath, Toshihiko yawned once and noticed his father had fallen asleep. He would just take a small nap and have enough time to make it back before Fai came looking for them.

Everything was really calm and peaceful as father and son were sleeping. Not until there was a loud knock on the door. Toshihiko muttered something as his head lolled off to the side. But Kurogane, on the other hand, cracked one eye open and was alarmed by the knock on the door.

He woke up startled, accidentally splashing water in his son's direction.

"Who's there?" he yelled at the door.

The door slid open to reveal Fai, who was smiling. "I've been looking everywhere for you two and I find you asleep in the bath." He walked forward, avoiding the puddles of water as Toshihiko grumbled in his sleep. "Kuro-chan's going to be a prune."

"Feh!"

Kurogane cursed at himself for letting him and the boy fall asleep under his watch. "Sh…oot, how long has it been?"

"I'm not sure. At least over twenty minutes." Fai leaned on his arms against the bath's edge. "You should be more careful. I don't want you both to drown." Fai couldn't help but smile though as he looked at Kurogane.

Although Toshihiko was at least big enough not to easily slide down the tub, Kurogane still felt a bit of guilt for not being more alert. "Damn baths," he just said. "Go wake him up."

"You won't fall asleep again?" Fai teased as he grabbed a towel. Throwing it over his shoulder, he went over and pulled his still sleeping son from the water. He quickly wrapped him up and dried him off. "Did you bring a change of clothes for either of you?"

That was something else he completely forgot. Kurogane smacked his forehead and muttered incoherent words.

"As much as I like seeing you without them, I think you might need some clothes," Fai joked as Toshihiko looped his arms around his neck, finally waking up.

"Kid better not have heard that!" Kurogane hissed as he got up. He quickly fetched a towel and started drying himself.

"Don't worry, he didn't." Fai watched appreciatively for a few seconds before his attention was taken by Toshihiko.

"Otou-san…?"

"You two fell asleep in the bath. We'll go and have something warm to drink and then you can go back to sleep." He kissed his son's wet hair and grinned when he heard the other make a noise in complaint.

"Otou-san…" Toshihiko rubbed his eyes before resuming. "Chichiue said you'd fell in mud one time. Is that true?"

"When I was younger, yes," Fai replied while bundling his son up in the large towel. It was still warm outside, but he didn't want to risk the chance of him catching a cold.

Kurogane shot a smirk at Fai at the same time. "So you both fell in front of each other before then…" Toshihiko said, connecting the dots in his sleepy stupor.

"I guess we did." Fai grinned as he grabbed his son's dirtied clothes. "If you finish dinner tonight, I might tell you more stories. There's a lot of embarrassing one's too." Kurogane's smirk vanished.

"More stories? You and Chichiue like telling those types of stories…"

"That's because they're funny." He gave the other a teasing look before he headed outside.

"You think they're funny," Kurogane huffed. Toshihiko followed his fathers' conversation in fascination.

"Not just me. Your parents and Toshi finds them entertaining. You just don't like the idea that anyone knows you're not as tough as you appear," Fai chided good naturedly.

The lord scowled in jest, but didn't say anything else. The three of them headed back inside.

Fai quickly led them to Toshihiko's room where he redressed his son in clean clothes. "Maybe I should have someone stand watch when you two take baths?" he suggested. Their son's pet got up from its spot on the window and cried up at the boy.

"There's absolutely no need to." Kurogane crossed his arms in mock protest.

"What makes you say that? We can't have something happening to Suwa's lord and future lord now, can we?" Toshihiko blushed faintly at the mention of his title while he picked up his cat and let it nuzzle him.

"Because we won't take baths together at the same time anymore."

"Aww, but it's cute!" Fai replied with a pout. "Makes me wish I had one of those cameras from Piffle."

Kero meowed loudly. "Those things are annoying," Kurogane said.

"You're just mad because the pictures I do have are you looking adorable with a baby Toshi," Fai said as he wrapped his arms around the taller man. He treasured those pictures and kept them away in the safety of their room.

"Get a room!" Toshihiko hollered.

"Fine, fine, we'll go to our room. Don't get dirty again," he warned before he patted his son's head and gave the cat a scratch under its chin. "Come on, Kuro-tan, you need to change out of those clothes anyways."

Fai winked, but fortunately, Toshihiko went back to playing with Kero and did not notice. Kurogane rolled his eyes and dragged Fai out of the boy's room.


End file.
